Walk into class ready to take on another day with your seventh graders. See a substitute standing where your Mentor Teacher should be. Turn around and run – don’t walk – back to your car and leave. Just kidding, don’t do that. But you’ll want to.
Take a deep breath and mentally prepare yourself for yet another terrible substitute teacher that the students do not respect. He will see you walk up, interact with the students, and try to maintain your MT’s regular classroom management strategies. You will immediately see the look of relief in his eyes as he thinks to himself: Nice, I’ll just get to take this hour off and let her lead the class. He’ll ask: “So, you’re, like here all the time and know what’s going on right?”
Sob internally.
You never have liked substitutes, even when you were in school. You felt like the entire day was wasted and liked having the structure of your regular teacher.
Looking back, you won’t even remember what the lesson was that day. What is that saying people always say? – super cliché, teachers always have it painted on a canvas in their classrooms… Oh yeah: “At the end of the day, people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.”
Well, sub, would you like to know how you made me feel? (Hint: The answer is no.)
The bell will ring at 3:10 pm. You will calmly walk as fast as possible to your car. Drive enough blocks so that you no longer see students from your school walking on the sidewalk or being driven home. Once feel like you’ve put enough distance between you and your school, let it all out, girl.
When you’re a teacher, you will appreciate subs more than you’ll ever know. But for now, it’s okay to wish they never existed and teachers were never allowed to take days off.
Take a deep breath and mentally prepare yourself for yet another terrible substitute teacher that the students do not respect. He will see you walk up, interact with the students, and try to maintain your MT’s regular classroom management strategies. You will immediately see the look of relief in his eyes as he thinks to himself: Nice, I’ll just get to take this hour off and let her lead the class. He’ll ask: “So, you’re, like here all the time and know what’s going on right?”
Sob internally.
You never have liked substitutes, even when you were in school. You felt like the entire day was wasted and liked having the structure of your regular teacher.
Looking back, you won’t even remember what the lesson was that day. What is that saying people always say? – super cliché, teachers always have it painted on a canvas in their classrooms… Oh yeah: “At the end of the day, people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.”
Well, sub, would you like to know how you made me feel? (Hint: The answer is no.)
The bell will ring at 3:10 pm. You will calmly walk as fast as possible to your car. Drive enough blocks so that you no longer see students from your school walking on the sidewalk or being driven home. Once feel like you’ve put enough distance between you and your school, let it all out, girl.
When you’re a teacher, you will appreciate subs more than you’ll ever know. But for now, it’s okay to wish they never existed and teachers were never allowed to take days off.
I can feel your frustration. Hopefully, these experiences will help you with classroom management next year when you have your own room and don't have to be there with the substitute!
ReplyDeleteSarah,
ReplyDeleteI loved hearing your genre reflection. It was truly entertaining but at the same time I found myself relating to the frustration that you describe here, especially the internal sobbing and the feeling of escaping to your car as quickly as possible. I think there will always be days that we feel like this. However, those days make the good days even better. Thank you so much for sharing with us.
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI loved the line in yours where you said that your classmates are worried so then you worry about not being worried enough…I DO THE SAME THING. Sometimes I just have to tell myself that I am doing things at my pace and at the rate that works best for me and that I do not have to be on the same page as everybody else. It’s so hard to not compare ourselves to others. However, I hope you know how capable you are and are confident in your abilities to take charge. It seems like your outlook on life is exactly what it should be.
Even though this student teaching business is serious…it’s not THAT serious. Life will go on. We will all be successful and happy one way or another. We just have to remember to keep things in perspective.
Your poem was just what I needed. Thank you.
Michaela